Egypt, EAEU seek establishing free trade zone

CAIRO - 24 April 2019: A second round of negotiations between Egypt and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member states on a free trade agreement will wrap up in Moscow on Wednesday.

The talks were held for three days, said a statement by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The free trade zone comes in implementation of an agreement reached between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and head of the Eurasia economic commission Tigran Sargsyan during talks held in Moscow last October, according to the statement.

The talks took up the issues of customs cooperation, trade movement and rules of origin along with competition and prevention of monopoly, added the statement.

The agreement will help increase trade between Egypt and EAEU countries.

The EAEU, which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kygryzstan and Russia covers the bulk of the Eurasian land mass and is geographically placed between the European Union and China. The EAEU has a population of some 183 million and a GDP of some US$5 trillion.